Multiple folding chair connecting clamp



April 13, 1954 Filed Sept. 50, 1952 W. E. NORDMARK MULTIPLE FOLDING CHAIR CONNECTING CLAMP 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR Willi-er E- Ml'dmamrli ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 13, 954

MULTIPLE FOLDING CHAIR CONNECTING CLAMP Walter E. Nordmark, Grand Rapids, Micln, as-

signor to American Seating Company, Grand Rapids, Mich., a corporation of New Jersey Application September 30, 1952, Serial No. 312,268

Claims. 1

The present invention relates to clamps and more particularly to a multiple clamp whereby chairs, especially steel folding chairs, may be clamped together to form a row of connected seating.

The primary objects of the invention are to provide such a clamp which may quickly and easily be applied to chairs in side-by-side alignment to form a row of connected chairs which may readily be transported as a unit, thus to facilitate the placement and removal of temporary seating; and in general to provide such a clamp which is rugged and sturdy in construction, eflicient in use, reasonably economical in manufacture and attractive in appearance.

An illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawing, wherein: Figure 1 is a perspective view of four folding chairs clamped together by means of two of the new clamps;

Figure 2 is a sectional view thereof taken on line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 but prior to the completion of the assembly of the clamp to all four chairs;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary front elevational view of the left hand end portion of the clamp shown applied to the front legs of the chairs shown in Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional view thereof taken on line 5-5 of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary sectional view thereof taken on line 6-6 of Figure 4;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary sectional view thereof taken on line 1-1 of Figure 4;

Figure 8 is a fragmentary front elevational view of the right hand end of the clampshown applied to the front legs of the chairs shown in Figure 1;

Figure 9 is a sectional view thereof taken on line 9-9 of Figure 8; and

Figure 10 is a sectional view thereof taken on lines l0-l0 of Figures 8 and 9.

Referring now in detail to these drawings, the folding chairs shown in Figure l are of more-orless conventional construction, each comprising a U-shaped tubular metal front frame forming front legs H of the chair and a bight portion l2 in which is secured a back panel [3, tubular metal rear legs 14 hingedly connected at IE to the front legs H, a seat It supported by the legs II and M, a tie-rod l1 connecting the front legs ll near their lower ends and a similar tierod l8 connecting the rear legs l4 near their lower ends. Such folding chairs are primarily manufactured for individual use, but it is sometimes found necessary or desirable to connect them in groups of 2, 3, 4 or more, and such grouping also facilitates handling of the chairs when placing or removing them from such places as gymnasiums, ball-rooms, or the like where they may be used for temporary assembly seating. The present invention provides convenient multiple clamps for so grouping the chairs.

As seen in Figure 1, four such folding chairs are clamped together in side-by-side alignment by means of two clamps, one clamp being applied to the front legs H of the chairs just above the tie-rods l1 and the other clamp being applied to the rear legs It just above the tie-rods I8 These clamps may be identical in construction and therefore only the front one is described herein in detail. It comprises a channel bar l9 having on one end thereof a fixed clamping member 20 secured thereto by means of a rivet 2| as shown. At predetermined spaced points along its length the channel bar l9 has pins 22 extending between its flanges, said pins piercing the flanges and being riveted over to secure them in fixed position in the bars channel. Inter mediate clamping members 23 are longitudinally slidably mounted in said channel. These members are in the form of channel pieces having their flanges extending into the channel bar l9 and provided with slots 24 through which pass the pins 22. (See Figures 6 and '7.) The web portions of these channel pieces extend outwardly beyond the flanges of the channel bar I 9, and the flanges of the channel pieces are cut away at both sides to form sockets shaped so as to receive the front legs ll of the chairs.

On the end of the channel bar 19 opposite the fixed clamping member 20 is a movable clamping member 25 secured to the channel bar by means of a rivet 26 (see Figure 10), which passes through the web portion of the channel bar [9 and through a slot 21 in the clamping member 25 thus to permit longitudinal sliding movement of said member relative to the bar I9. A hand lever 28 is pivotally mounted at 29 on a bracket 30 fixedly secured to the channel bar l9 asby means of a rivet 3|. A; link 32 'operatively connects the hand lever 28 to the clamping member 25, being pivotally connected at 33 to the hand lever 28 and pivotally connected at 34 to a pin 35 secured to and extending between spaced flanges 36, 31 on the clamping member 25.

The application of the new clamp to a group of folding chairs may best" be understood by referring to Figure 3. With the intermediate to the right, which latter clamp is then slid to the left into engagement with the adjacent chair Y leg, and so on. When the right hand end chair is in position, the hand lever 28 is moved from its open position (shown in full lines in Figure 3' and in dotted lines in Figure 10) to its closed or clamping position (shown in full lines in Figures 2 and 10). This movement of the hand lever 28 draws link 32 and clamping member 25 to the left, slightly compressing all of the chairs in the row into secure assembly. It will readily be seen that when the link 32 snaps past the pivotal center 29 of hand lever 28 all of the parts are maintained in securely clamped assembl; by the expanding force of the slightly compressed chairs applied to the clamping member 25. When it is desired to disconnect the chairs, the hand lever 28 is manually moved to open position whereupon the clamp may be quickly removed from the chair legs.

The new clamp may be made in several lengths for grouping together 2, 3, 4 or more chairs, with intermediate clamping members provided accordingly for disposition between the adjacent legs of adjoining chairs. If desired, two clamps may be provided for each group as shown in Figure 1, although one clamp might in some instances suflice and more than two clamps might in other instances be considered desirable.

It will thus be seen that the invention provides a multiple folding chair clamp of simple and sturdy construction which may be quickly applied to or removed from chair groupings, and while but one specific embodiment of the invention has been herein shown and described it will be understood that numerous details may be altered or omitted without departing from the spirit of the invention as the same is defined by the following claims.

I claim:

1. A clamp for clamping together a plurality of chairs in side-by-side alignment with the chair legs at one side of each chair disposed alongside the adjacent chair legs of an adjoining chair thus forming a row of front chair legs and a row of rear chair legs, said clamp comprising a bar adapted for disposition adjacent a row of said chair legs transversely thereof, a fixed clamping member on one end of said bar adapted to engage the chair leg at one end of said row, an intermediate clamping member longitudinally slidably mounted on the bar and adapted for disposition between each adjacent pair of adjoining chair legs in said row, a movable clamping member longitudinally slidably mounted on the oppo site endof saidbar fromthe fixed clamping member, and a lever pivotally mounted on the bar and op'eratively connected to said movable end clamping member whereby movement of the lever in one direction moves said movable and clamping'member toward said fixed clamping member thus drawing the entire row of chair legs and clamping members. in'totightly clamped engagement; said lever being movable in the op-'- .4 posite direction to release the row of chair legs and clamping members from such engagement.

2. A clamp for clamping together a plurality of chairs in side-by-side alignment with the chair legs at one side of each chair disposed alongside the adjacent chair legs of an adjoining chair thus forming a row of front chair legs and a. row of rear chair legs, said clamp comprising a bar adapted for disposition adjacent a row of said chair legs transversely thereof, a fixed clamping member on one end of said bar adapted to engage the chair leg at one end of said row, an intermediate clamping member longitudinally slidably mounted On the bar and adapted for disposition between each adjacent pair of adjoining chair legs in said row and provided at its opposite sides with sockets for the reception and retention of said adjacent pair of legs respectively, a movable clamping member longitudinally slidably mounted on the opposite end of said bar from the fixed clamping member and.

a lever pivotally mounted on the bar and opera! tively connected to said movable end clamping member whereby movement of the lever in One direction moves said movable end clamping member toward said fixed clamping member thus drawing the entire row of chair legs and clamp! ing members into tightly clamped engagement, said lever being movable in th opposite direc tion to release the row of chair legs and clamp: ing members from such engagement.

3. A clampv for clamping together a plurality of chairs with their legs in horizontally aligned rows, said clamp comprising a channel baradapt-1 ed for disposition adjacent a row of said chair legs with the channel opening toward said legs, an intermediate clamping member longitudinally slidably mounted in said channel and projecting therefrom for disposition between adjacent legs of adjoining chairs in said row, a fixed clamping member on one end of the channel bar adapted to engage the chair leg at one end of said row and a movable clamping member on the other end of the channel bar adapted to engage the chair leg at the other end of said row, and means on the channel bar operatively connected to the movable end clamping member for moving the latter toward the fixed clamping member thus drawing the entire row of chair legs and clampin members into tightly clamped engagement. 7

- 4. A clamp forclamping together a plurality of chairs with their legs in horizontally aligned rows, said clamp comprising a channel bar adapted for disposition adjacent a row of said chair legs with the channel opening toward said legs, pins extending between the flanges of the channel bar at spaced points thereon, intermediate clamping members comprising channel pieces having their flanges extending into the channel of said channel bar and provided With slots through which said pins extend whereby the channel pieces are longitudinally movable in said channel bar, the webs of said channel pieces projecting therefrom for disposition between ad jacent legs of adjoining chairs in said row, a fixed clamping member on one end of the channel bar adapted to engage the chair legat one end of said row and a movable clamping member on the other end of the channel bar adapted to engage the chair leg at the other end of said row.

5. A clamp for-clamping together a plurality ofchairs with theirlegs in horizontally aligned rows; said c a p ompr s nea channel ba ada ted f r "d osi i n ad acent a row f said chair 5 legs with the channel opening toward said legs, pins extending between the flanges of the channel bar at spaced points thereon, intermediate clamping members comprising channel pieces having their flanges extending into th channel of said channel bar and provided with slots through which said pins extend whereby the channel pieces are longitudinally movable in said channel bar, the Webs of said channel pieces projecting therefrom for disposition between adjacent legs of adjoining chairs in said row and the flanges of said channel pieces having sockets for the reception and retention of said legs therein, a fixed clamping member on one end of the 6 channel bar adapted to engage the chair leg at one end of said row and a movable clamping member on the other end of the channel bar adapted to engage the chair leg at the other end 5 of said row.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 10 Number Name Date 712,898 Barney Nov. 4, 1902 778,219 Budd Dec. 27, 1904 2,174,224 Geller Sept. 26, 1939 

